


Confronting the Dread Wolf

by Tsilky



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:07:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24912082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsilky/pseuds/Tsilky
Summary: Inquisitor Lavellan finally catches up with her former lover, demanding to know why he left and where his dark path will finally end.The answers she receives are the not the ones she wanted.
Relationships: Female Lavellan/Solas
Kudos: 4





	Confronting the Dread Wolf

Ellana collapsed through the Eluvian, a fresh wave of agony lancing through her left arm, the mark glowing bright for a moment. This was worse than any of the previous ones, leaving her panting and dripping with sweat.

The Inquisitor looked ahead as she used her staff to struggle back to her feet. The Viddasala was just ahead, running toward an unseen target. Ellana began to follow after her, doing her best to ignore the pain that was near constantly radiating from her arm. Around her were statues, perfect likenesses of Qunari. She quickly realised they were not in fact statues, but rather actual Qunari who had been transformed by some complex magic.

“Ebasit kata. Itwa-ost.” Ellana's blood ran cold at a voice she hoped to never hear again. It echoed about the place, bouncing off every surface and sounding far more menacing than she'd ever heard it.

“MARAAS KATA!” The Viddasala's voice came next, the fury in her voice clear. It did not sound nearly as terrifying as the first. If anything, the Qunari was terrified, but trying to hide it with her anger.

“Your forces have failed. Leave now, and tell the Qunari to trouble me no further.”

Ellana began to run despite her body's protests at the movement. She couldn’t let him get away. She came into view as he turned from the Viddasala, the Qunari screaming her frustrations into the sky. She reared back, ready to hurl the spear clutched in her hand at the man's back. Just as it began to rush forward, she froze, her entire being immediately turning to stone.

Ellana had felt the magic shiver through the air, knowing exactly where it came from. The man she now held nothing but hatred and contempt for.

“SOLAS!’ The Elven Inquisitor's scream froze the man to the spot. He had suspected she would be right behind the Qunari, but had hoped to be away before she got here. His eyes closed as he felt the pain from his actions from only two years before. Pain for both him and the woman behind him.

Solas turned around, facing the other Elf and meeting her gaze. He found what he thought would be there. Unrestrained fury and hatred, barely being contained just beneath the surface. The brilliant purple eyes staring straight back. The snow-white hair framing her beautiful features. Vallaslin in midnight Black ink tattooed over her forehead, down her delicate nose and continuing around the curve of her chin to disappear beneath her clothing. She knew they were slave markings but had refused to allow him to remove them.

Ellana clutched her staff tightly in her right hand, prepared to use it at a moment’s notice. She never got the chance. With a scream of volume she didn’t think she was capable of, the Inquisitor fell onto her knees, her staff clattering to the ground as she clutched at her arm and green lightning thundered through her nerves.

“The mark is killing you.” Solas took a few steps toward the writhing Inquisitor, kneeling in front of her as the pain subsided and she grew still. “I can remove it, stop the pain. Give you time.”

Ellana remained kneeling with her gaze firmly on the ground in front of her, “Did you ever really love me?”

“Ma vhenan...”

“DON’T CALL ME THAT!” She roared out as she lifted her head to meet Solas's gaze, “You lost that right when you left.” She spat the words in his face, the anger creasing her brow mixed with the pain in her eyes. She reached up with her right hand, twisting the fur of his armour in her hand, “You only loved what you saw of yourself. What you _put_ there. And now it’s killing me.”

Ellana shoved Solas away, only sending him stumbling back a step before he righted himself and stood back to his feet. She broke his gaze, focusing on attempting to ignore the pain lancing through her body. Solas stood for a few moments, staring at the woman who still held his heart, even if he no longer held hers. All the pain he had caused her still weighed heavily on his mind, even if he had to ignore it to complete his long-term goals. Solas suspected he would always carry this pain with him. Nothing he could do now would erase it.

Solas reached out, gently laying his hand on Ellana’s shoulder. She immediately recoiled as though burned, still cradling her marked limb. He held out his hand, trying to sound as neutral as possible, “Give me your hand. I can remove the mark.”

Ellana hesitated. She knew she couldn’t trust him. Not anymore. Not after all he’d done to her personally and in all his efforts to tear the Inquisition apart. But she couldn’t stop herself from holding out her arm, couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through her body as Solas gripped her hand, one of his above and one below. Solas waited till she’d stopped moving, finally doing as he promised. His eyes glowed silver for an instant before changing back.

The pain disappeared from her arm. Ellana opened her eyes, daring to look down. The skin of her arm all the way up past her elbow looked grey and cracked. The green glow that had been part of her life for years was gone. The mark that had made her unique amongst all sentient beings in Thedas was finally gone.

Before she could even utter another word, another change began. Ellana’s arm began to fall away, starting at the tips of her fingers. She looked on in horror as it crumbled away right to the border where the grey had stopped, leaving her with a bloody stump that abruptly began to drip onto the dirt beneath her. Pain came back, not as severe as before, but still enough to elicit a silent scream from her.

Ellana gained control over herself, breathing heavily through her teeth and wrapping her one good arm around her the remains of her other one. She looked up at Solas, even more furious with him than before, “THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL HELPING ME?!” She fought to gain her feet, blood flowing faster from her wound, “All of our legends about you are true, Fen’harel. You are a monster through and through, you betrayed the Elven people. The Dalish are right to revile you.”

“It’s not that simple, and you know it.”

“It doesn’t matter if it is or not. Your actions prove otherwise.” Ellana could already feel the blood loss from her ruin of a limb taking affect, her vision swimming in front of her. She shook her head, focusing all of her willpower on staying conscious, “What do you hope to gain by spying on the Inquisition? By destabilising the very thing you helped create? We have helped so many people! And now you want to tear it all down?!”

Solas sighed, trying his best to explain it in a way that wouldn’t lead to Ellana’s anger increasing any further, “The Inquisition has become corrupt, as all do when they become too powerful for their own good. You have grown too large, and under your own weight, you will crumble. I am simply making it happen sooner. Preparing the world for what is to come.”

“And what is that Solas? What’s coming?”

The Dread Wolf folded his hands behind his back, turning to face away from the Inquisitor and taking a few steps before answering, “I’m going to tear down the Veil.”

Ellana stood stunned, staring at Solas’ back. The man she had thought she once loved was planning to bring down the very thing that held back utter chaos. He planned to bring about an event that would surely mean near total-annihilation for the entirety of Thedas. “For what purpose?”

“To bring back that which was lost.”

“You created the fucking Veil in the first place! And now, you want to undo that? To destroy everything that is just to have a chance to bring back what you yourself destroyed?”

“It is the only way, ma vhenan. I have been planning this for a very long time, and I will not be stopped now.”

Ellana grit her teeth at Solas’ use of the term of endearment. Even now, him saying those two words tugged at something deep in her soul. She took a step towards him, “Why help start the Inquisition? Why help stop Corypheus? Why help seal the Breach in the first place?”

Solas sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “Corypheus failed in the path I set for him. He could not wield my orb properly, and instead of claiming the mark as his own and tearing the Veil down, he passed it to you.” He turned back to face her, “You were not supposed to be there. You were an unseen variable that he nor I could predict.” He took a few steps closer, almost pleading with Ellana to understand, “I helped close the Breach because that was not tearing the Veil down, it was only causing a fracture. If I had attempted to rip the whole Veil down from there, I am not sure what would have happened. I couldn’t take the risk of any variables in my plan. So I helped you close it. I helped to defeat Corypheus to tie up that loose end. For too long I have tried to accomplish my goal through agents or behind the scenes. Now I see, it is time for a more direct approach.”

“None of what we did meant anything to you? All the people the Inquisition has helped? All the people we’ve saved? All a means to an end. You cared about _none_ of it.” Ellana hissed the last words at him.

“I cared about you.”

“Bullshit. You didn’t care about fucking any of it, least of all me. You just wanted to get into my pants. You just wanted to fuck the pretty little Dalish girl and have your fun. Until you were finished and you left.”

Anger broke through Solas’ demeanour. His face contorted with rage. His eyes glowed silver just as they had done when he'd removed the mark. Ellana had never seen him like this, never seen his calm broken, his rage terrifying as his voice boomed out, “I LOVED YOU! WITH EVERYTHING THAT I WAS! WITH EVERYTHING THAT I AM! I WAS PREPARED TO GIVE UP MILLENNIA OF PLANNING FOR YOU! TO GIVE UP ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!”

Ellana was stunned for but a second before she roared straight back, “THEN WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN MY DAUGHTERS WERE BORN?! ANSWER ME THAT SOLAS!”

Solas stumbled back a step as though her words had dealt a physical blow. He stared with wide eyes at the heavily breathing woman in front of him. At the rage and sorrow in her eyes. And at the truth. His own anger was forgotten immediately, his voice stammering out in just above a whisper, “D-daughters?”

Ellana's rage turned to confusion, shifting quickly to surprise, “You didn’t know?” She stared dumbfounded at Fen'harel, the father of her two daughters. A quiet giggle erupted from her throat, soon turning to bellowing laughter, “You didn’t know?! After all your spying on the Inquisition, you don’t find _that_ out? Your agents didn’t even give you an inkling? They missed that I was pregnant? That I literally disappeared for more than three months when my twins were born?” Her laughter only grew louder, “I kept it from anyone outside the Inquisition, but you had spies within my ranks. You could’ve found out easily.”

“Ellana, please... I didn’t know.” Solas took a step closer, Ellana mirroring it by stepping back. She raised her good arm, palm crackling with electricity.

Ellana’s eyes narrowed, anger flashing through them once more, “I don’t care. You could have found out. You could have shown you actually care. You could have been there for both of them. But I know the truth. You're not capable of it. You’re not capable of anything beyond your 'plan'.” Ellana flicked her staff into her hand with her foot, pointing it at Solas' chest. “And I’m going to stop you. No matter what it takes.”

Solas hung his head, avoiding Ellana's gaze, “I can’t let you stop me, ma vhenan.” He raised his head back up, “No matter how I may feel about you, or our daughters.”

“THEY’RE NOT YOURS!” Lightning cracked along the length of her staff, “You haven’t earned the right to call yourself their father. And you never will. I'll make sure of that. They will know that their 'father' is Fen'harel. The Dread Wolf, responsible for all the evil in this world. They will hate you as much as I do.”

Solas straightened up, sighing at Ellana’s reaction, “What happened to us Ellana?”

“You. _LEFT._ ” Ellana spat her words at him, “You want to know when I found out? You want to know when I knew I was pregnant? The day before we faced Corypheus. The healers told me. They _begged_ me to not go into battle, warning it might hurt my baby. I overruled them, and I foreswore them to be silent on it. I couldn’t risk not destroying Corypheus while we had the chance.” She swallowed, sorrow briefly flashing across her face, “Even if it might mean the death of my child.” She scoffed, gesturing to Solas with her staff, “And what was running through my mind while I was fighting that monster? _How. To. Tell. You_. How to let you know that I was expecting our child. How to let you know that out of all that madness, out of all that pain, something amazing was about to come to us. Not that I might kill this miracle. But how _you_ would react. And what do you do? YOU LEAVE! The moment Corypheus was dead, before he’s even cold on the ground. YOU. WERE. GONE.”

“And I will regret that decision for the rest of my days. But it doesn’t change the fact, that was the one I made.” Solas turned away from his heart, looking over his shoulder one last time, “Goodbye, ma vhenan. I am sorry... for everything.”

Ellana watched him go, rage building with every step he took. She gripped her staff ever tighter in her hand, her breathing more ragged with every passing moment. She simply saw red, and reacted.

The Inquisitor’s staff lashed forward, unleashing a giant bolt of lightning straight towards the Dread Wolf’s back. He turned too late, taking the full brunt of the attack to the centre of his back. He stumbled forward onto his hands and knees, feeling the singe that it had left in his armour. It had not injured him physically in any way, but he was genuinely shocked she would attack him so brazenly. He was back on his feet in an instant, turning to face his assailant.

A flurry of electricity was unleashed from Ellana’s staff, twisting and charging every attack with all of the rage and sorrow that she felt for this man. Solas blocked every attack as one would a fly, swatting away each magical spell as though they were nothing. Ellana screamed her frustration, stopping with her smaller attacks to charge up a single enormous one. Her entire body crackled with barely restrained power, all of it flowing through her staff into the crystal at the head of it.

The magic burned the air as it passed through it, leaping back and forth towards its target. Ellana had unleashed more power than she ever had before. The lightning was almost blinding with its intensity. Solas raised a hand, the magic colliding with his outstretched palm. To his great surprise, he felt a tingle of pain from it, felt it force him to take a step back. Ellana continued with her assault, pouring everything she had through her staff and towards Solas.

Solas looked at the rage-creased expression of his beloved. The one he knew he could never have ever again. He had to distance himself from her, lest he forgo all of his plans and beg for any from of forgiveness she might deign to give him. With a flick of his hand, most of her attack deflected away from him, sending just enough straight back towards her to have the desired effect.

Ellana screamed with pain as her magic came back at her, striking her in the chest and rag dolling her through the air. She tumbled end over end several times before slamming into the ground with a yelp and rolling to a stop. She forced herself to look up, barely even having the energy to do that. She watched as Solas looked upon her one last time before turning away.

Her scream followed the Dread Wolf as he prepared to leave her for the last time, “I’m going to kill you Solas. I don’t care how long it takes. I don’t care what I have to do, where I have to go. I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME? I’M GOING TO RIP YOUR HEART OUT OF YOUR CHEST WITH MY BARE HANDS!” Solas disappeared through the Eluvian, the portal snapping shut behind him. She finally let the tears flow, the sorrow overwhelming her anger completely, painful sobs wracking her body. She whispered to herself, “ _Just like you did to me_.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


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